Earth Eats: Real Food, Green Living

Maple Spice Muffins With Apples, Carrots And Raisins

Posted September 25, 2011

I may not be ready for cooler weather, but I am sure ready for fall food!

Photo: Heather Tallman

These muffins go great with a cup of yogurt for a quick breakfast.

I woke the other day with a real hankering for a pumpkin doughnut, but not just any doughnut — the ones that I can get at this little local shop just south of Indianapolis.

The problem was (besides the doughnut craving) this place is about 25 minutes from my house and it is just not feasible to drive that far for a pastry. I have done it before and I always feel doubly guilty after, not just for the calories I didn’t need but for the gas I used up.

I think my husband is rubbing off on me.

I knew I had an easy recipe for a muffin that I could make quickly and wouldn’t feel so bad about eating. I am all about moderation, really I am, but sometimes after a particularly trying week it is best that I not keep super yummy treats in the house. They won’t last long. So, it helps to make things that are a little more, what should I call it, guilt-free!

So, if you are also practicing moderation like me, you will love these muffins. My kids scarfed theirs down in record time. And, you won’t need a candle when you are baking these beauties — my house was filled with the aroma of baked apples, cinnamon and spice!

I may not be ready for cooler weather, but I am sure ready for fall food!

Maple Spice Muffins With Apples, Carrots And Raisins

Yield: 12 large muffins

Ingredients

1/4 cupmargarine

1/2 cupmaple syrup from Burton's Maple Farm

1 6 ounce containerlow-fat lemon yogurt

1/2 cupnon-fat sour cream

1 largeegg

1 largecarrot, peeled and grated*

1 largered delicious apple, grated

1/2 cupbaking raisins (use what you have, I just happen to like baking raisins)

1 cupall-purpose flour

1 cupwhole wheat flour

2 tablespoonsflax meal (optional)

1 teaspoonbaking soda

1 teaspoonbaking powder

2 teaspoonscinnamon

1 teaspoonallspice

1/2 teaspoonground clove

pinch of fresh nutmeg

1/4 teaspoonsalt

Cooking Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a muffin pan of your choice.

In a large bowl, stir the margarine, maple syrup, yogurt, sour cream, egg, carrot, apple and raisins, breaking up the lumps with the spoon.

Sprinkle on the dry ingredients in order. Stir until just combined. Do not over mix or it will be lumpy.

Add batter to muffin cups in equal amounts and bake for 20-25 minutes.

These will keep in a container for 2 days or in the freezer for 1 month. (I made a double batch so I could have some for the freezer.)

*I have used 1 large grated zucchini instead of the carrot, and that is also so good!

Heather Tallman is a Bloomington native, freelance writer and mother to 2 busy boys. She is also a food writer for her local newspaper as well as the creator of Basilmomma, a cooking blog. She writes about her culinary hits and misses and all of the life that goes along with it. Her goal is to create fast, fresh and family-friendly meals that teach her children and others that creating meals from farm to table is not only attainable but easier than you think.

Related Posts (Automatically Generated)

What is RSS? RSS makes it possible to subscribe to a website's updates instead of visiting it by delivering new posts to your RSS reader automatically. Choose to receive some or all of the updates from Earth Eats: